The Power of Colour - copy
Ready to feel confident, empowered, and to own a wardrobe full of clothes that love you as much as you love them? Colour has the power to help you rediscover your true style and bring the bold and the beautiful back to your look.
Read on to get started on your journey into the world of colourful clothing, and everything it can bring, not just to your wardrobe but to your life!
Is wearing colour really that amazing?
After decades of black as synonymous with chic, the challenges of the last few years have brought with them the realisation that wearing colour can be a positive and joyful choice. The emphasis has moved away (not a moment too soon!) from looking smaller, slimmer and diminutive, and instead towards wearing clothes that feel expressive, uplifting and powerful.
Finally the confident boosting, style-enhancing power of colour has been recognised. And the best bit is that there are is only one rule in this new, colourful world; wear colours that make you feel amazing, and fill you with joy every time you open the wardrobe door.
*Ready to shop for colour? Click here to see our full range of over 300 colours, from neutrals to the boldest brights.
*Want to know more about the power of wearing colour, including the joy of dopamine dressing? Click here to read more.
*Want to know which are your colours? Read on to discover how to find your own best colour palette
Which colours should I wear?
Here at Kettlewell we are fans of ALL colour, without exception, but we also recognise that simply direction you to our range of over 300 colours without some guidance can be more than a little intimidating.
Which is why we divide our clothes up into four main palettes, each one named after a season and carefully selected to mix and match endlessly as well as making you look and feel your absolute best. Each seasonal palette holds light and dark neutrals, and enough bold and bright colours to keep you happily playing with your favourite colours almost indefinitely!
Each seasonal palette has its own mood, feel and style, and you might immediately feel at home with one and be ready to shift your wardrobe into it. But if you feel like you need a little more guidance before you get stuck in, don’t panic! We’ve got buckets more information to help you discover and explore a palette you’ll love.
*Ready to shop for colour? Click here to see our full range of over 300 colours, from neutrals to the boldest brights.
*Not ready to think in seasons? Click here to discover the universally flattering shades that work for everyone.
*Want to know which is your seasonal palette? Read on to discover how to find your own best colours.
The seasonal palettes - a beginners’ guide
Seasonal palettes aren’t a new concept - painters have been capturing the mood of each season for centuries, and Johannes Itten formalised the idea of linking specific colour groups with the seasons in the early twentieth century - but our understanding of how they relate to us as humans has deepened dramatically over the past century or so.
Here’s how we view each season:
The best bit of this is that we each have a colour palette which most closely aligns with our own colouring and personality, and discovering this palette is where the true magic in wearing colour comes to life.
You might already feel that one seasonal palette is right for you, and be ready to explore and learn everything you can about that palette (in which case, you’re ready to either go shopping using our seasonal palette filters, or perhaps to learn more about your season here). But if you’re still not quite sure, it’s time to visit our quiz to explore your seasonal palette.
*Ready to find your palette? Click here to take our quiz and get started on your colour journey
*Ready to shop for colour? Click here to see our full range of over 300 colours, from neutrals to the boldest brights.
*Want to learn more about the seasonal palettes? Click here to learn how and why colour analysis works.
Dopamine dressing
Dopamine dressing is a relatively new phrase in the style lexicon, but we love it. The theory behind dopamine dressing is simply wearing clothes you love, and that love you back, making you feel amazing and, as a rather marvellous side effect, look amazing too.
The real joy of dopamine dressing is that there are no rules. Want to clash orange and pink? Go for it? High contrast classic cuts? You got it. The key is to let go of decades of fashion baggage which dictates what people (mostly women) should wear, and how they should look and feel in their clothes, and tap into what you love instead. For some people that might mean minor style tweaks, whereas for others it might mean embracing a whole new look, colour palette and wardrobe.
Here at Kettlewell we know that colour is a huge part of dopamine dressing. Colour psychology is not a new concept, and you’ve probably already noticed that colours you surround yourself with can have an impact on your mood. So why not embrace that in your outfits every day? Want to feel outgoing, bold and striking? Opt for stronger colours, and high contrast looks (either colour blocking different colours, or wearing light and dark colours together). Or if you want to feel a little more part of the crowd, tonal looks (several shades from the same colour family) and softer shades might feel more comfortable.
We love the seasonal palettes for supporting you in your dopamine dressing journey because when you discover your palette it will feel more like ‘you’ than any other colours out there. This isn’t just about looking your best, but also feeling that you’re adding the true you to your look, giving you the confidence to wear more colour, with more excitement, than ever before!
* CTA? Shop colours, do the colour quiz?
Universal colours
Imagine if there was a group of colours that were guaranteed to suit you, to give you confidence and make you feel amazing? Well, we can do that! We call these Universal Colours, because they suit every skintone and personal style.
Why do they work? Colour can be categorised using six parameters, in three pairs - warm and cool, light and dark, and bright and soft. Colours that sit at the extremes of any of these six parameters are going to look brilliant on some people, but equally will be wildly unflattering on others. So the trick with universal colours is to find those shades that sit midway along all three colour parameter pairs. Not too warm, nor too cool, not too light, nor to dark, and not to bright, nor too soft.
So what are these Goldilocks colours? Here are just a few that we’ve discovered at Kettlewell
IMAGES OF TRUE RED, SOFT WHITE, PEBBLE GREY, PANSY, UNIVERSAL TEALS, WATERMELON
We also have one extra colour tip for you - when it comes to dark neutrals, if you aren’t sure what works for you, Navy Blue is far more reliable than Black, which only works for a handful of people. Everybody suits some version of Navy, which means that even if it isn’t your absolute best dark neutral, Navy is likely to be better on the majority of people that failsafe Black.
* CTA - shop universal colours, colour quiz
The How and the Why of colour analysis
Ready to discover your own personal colour palette? Colour analysis is the best way to definitively explore all the colours in the world and come home to your own personal colour palette.
Colour analysis has been around for at least 40 years, but the concept of how we interact with certain colour palettes has been around for hundreds of years, ever since portrait painters began to realise the impact of the colours they used for their subjects (if you’d like to learn more, click here to read a full history of colour analysis)
The idea of colour analysis is a simple one: we all have a unique combination of hair, eye and skin colour, but that combination comes together to create a look that is overall warm or cool toned. We also have either a high contrast ‘clear’ look (for an extreme example, think of Snow White, with her pale skin, red lips and black hair) or a lower contrast ‘soft’ look (imagine elegant dark blonde, grey eyes and mid-toned skin - a far lower contrast look). These two factors come together to create four possible combinations, which we assign to each of the four seasonal palettes:
(More seasonal imagery here)
Spring: warm colouring, clear
Autumn: warm colouring, soft
Summer: cool colouring, soft
Winter: cool colouring, clear
Every colour in the world can also be assigned to one of these palettes, depending on its relative level of warmth/coolness and clarity/softness. Using carefully chosen drapes, it’s possible for a colour analyst to assess which of these palettes you belong to. There are slight differences between analysts, but essentially each one will compare warm and cool colours, and then soft and clear colours, to see which ones make your eyes sparkle, your skin glow and, above all, make you feel amazing.
And this is where the real magic of colour happens. Once you know your colour palette, you can begin to shop for colours that make you feel that incredible every single day, enhancing your confidence and presence and, for those who have been lacking in confidence, bring back feeling good in yourself again.
The best way to discover your colour palette is with an in person analysis, and we have a directory of colour analysts around the world who are as passionate as we are about colour and finding the palette that will give you colour confidence. If you’re not quite ready to take the leap yet, our colour quiz will help give an indication of which palette might be best for you, and get you started on the colourful adventure of a lifetime!
* CTA quiz, find a stylist